1<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->
2<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
4<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
5
6<refentry id="locale.conf">
7  <refentryinfo>
8    <title>locale.conf</title>
9    <productname>systemd</productname>
10  </refentryinfo>
11
12  <refmeta>
13    <refentrytitle>locale.conf</refentrytitle>
14    <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
15  </refmeta>
16
17  <refnamediv>
18    <refname>locale.conf</refname>
19    <refpurpose>Configuration file for locale settings</refpurpose>
20  </refnamediv>
21
22  <refsynopsisdiv>
23    <para><filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename></para>
24  </refsynopsisdiv>
25
26  <refsect1>
27    <title>Description</title>
28
29    <para>The <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename> file configures
30    system-wide locale settings. It is read at early boot by
31    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
32
33    <para>The format of <filename>locale.conf</filename> is a newline-separated list of environment-like
34    shell-compatible variable assignments, ignoring comments and empty lines. It is possible to source the
35    configuration from shell scripts, however, beyond mere variable assignments, no shell features are
36    supported, allowing applications to read the file without implementing a shell compatible execution
37    engine. See
38    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>os-release</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for a
39    detailed description of the format.</para>
40
41    <para>Note that the kernel command line options
42    <varname>locale.LANG=</varname>,
43    <varname>locale.LANGUAGE=</varname>,
44    <varname>locale.LC_CTYPE=</varname>,
45    <varname>locale.LC_NUMERIC=</varname>,
46    <varname>locale.LC_TIME=</varname>,
47    <varname>locale.LC_COLLATE=</varname>,
48    <varname>locale.LC_MONETARY=</varname>,
49    <varname>locale.LC_MESSAGES=</varname>,
50    <varname>locale.LC_PAPER=</varname>,
51    <varname>locale.LC_NAME=</varname>,
52    <varname>locale.LC_ADDRESS=</varname>,
53    <varname>locale.LC_TELEPHONE=</varname>,
54    <varname>locale.LC_MEASUREMENT=</varname>,
55    <varname>locale.LC_IDENTIFICATION=</varname> may be
56    used to override the locale settings at boot.</para>
57
58    <para>The locale settings configured in
59    <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename> are system-wide and are
60    inherited by every service or user, unless overridden or unset by
61    individual programs or users.</para>
62
63    <para>Depending on the operating system, other configuration files
64    might be checked for locale configuration as well, however only as
65    fallback.</para>
66
67    <para><filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename> can be updated
68    using
69    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-localed.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
70    <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>localectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
71    may be used to alter the settings in this file during runtime from
72    the command line. Use
73    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
74    to customize them on mounted (but not booted) system images.</para>
75  </refsect1>
76
77  <refsect1>
78    <title>Options</title>
79
80    <para>The following locale settings may be set using
81    <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename>:
82    <varname>LANG=</varname>,
83    <varname>LANGUAGE=</varname>,
84    <varname>LC_CTYPE=</varname>,
85    <varname>LC_NUMERIC=</varname>,
86    <varname>LC_TIME=</varname>,
87    <varname>LC_COLLATE=</varname>,
88    <varname>LC_MONETARY=</varname>,
89    <varname>LC_MESSAGES=</varname>,
90    <varname>LC_PAPER=</varname>,
91    <varname>LC_NAME=</varname>,
92    <varname>LC_ADDRESS=</varname>,
93    <varname>LC_TELEPHONE=</varname>,
94    <varname>LC_MEASUREMENT=</varname>,
95    <varname>LC_IDENTIFICATION=</varname>.
96    Note that <varname>LC_ALL</varname> may not be configured in this
97    file. For details about the meaning and semantics of these
98    settings, refer to
99    <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
100  </refsect1>
101
102  <refsect1>
103    <title>Example</title>
104
105    <example>
106      <title>German locale with English messages</title>
107
108      <para><filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename>:</para>
109
110      <programlisting># Custom settings
111
112LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
113LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8</programlisting>
114    </example>
115
116  </refsect1>
117
118  <refsect1>
119      <title>See Also</title>
120      <para>
121        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
122        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
123        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>localectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
124        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-localed.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
125        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
126      </para>
127  </refsect1>
128</refentry>
129